The Cerritos College men’s tennis team was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, losing to conference rival, Riverside College.

The Falcons finished the season with an overall record of 12 wins and five losses.

The Falcons won its first meeting against Riverside earlier in the season, leaving the team feeling confident that it could do it again, but on April 14, fell victim to Riverside the second time around.

The singles matches were split between the two schools.

Nik Bote, Carlos Gomez, and David Sim of Cerritos gave the three wins for Cerritos.

Bote defeated Camillo Almeida of Riverside over three sets 4-6, 6-0, and 6-2.

Gomez defeated Sam Pariani in three sets 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Sim topped off the singles win, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.

Coach of the men’s tennis team, Alvin Kim, felt very confident about winning the meeting before being aware of injuries that plagued the team.

“We took on critical injuries that may cost us this match against Riverside. Regardless, Riverside is the rival team you love to beat, so we’re going to try our hardest to do just that,” Kim said.

The injuries that Kim is referring to are those of top singles player Doug Edwards and freshman Tim Lee.

While the team wasn’t specific on the injuries, it certainly showed on the court that neither was 100 percent.

Edwards, who had won his first meeting against Riverside’s defending singles state champion Daniel Coehlo, was unable to repeat his victory, losing the No.1 singles match in straights sets, 6-3 and 7-6.

Lee, however, was unable to make it through his No. 3 singles match.

Lee was behind 1-6, 2-4 before having to retire early.

Kim said, “We brought our No. 6 singles player Matt Jun to come in and play No. 3 doubles with Sim, so the chemistry might not be as strong between these two.”

Kim was wrong with that assumption; Jun and Sim put their talents together, winning in straight sets 7-5, 7-5 leaving them with the only doubles win for Cerritos.